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Moral Psychology
Historical and Contemporary Readings

"The editors have done the field a great service by bringing together the various different traditions that shape contemporary moral psychology. Here one finds Nietzsche right alongside cutting-edge social psychology, Hume juxtaposed with neuroscience. The result is a real treasure, invaluable both for classroom instruction and for people who just want to get a sense for the best that moral psychology has to offer."
—Joshua Knobe, Yale University

"In recent years there has been an explosion of interest in using methods developed in evolutionary biology, cognitive science and neuroscience to address some of the most venerable issues in moral psychology. This volume, which includes both historically important texts and state of the art research, provides a unique and valuable introduction to the past, the present and the future of moral psychology."
—Stephen Stich, Board of Governors Professor of Philosophy & Cognitive Science, Rutgers University

Thomas Nadelhoffer (Edited by), Eddy Nahmias (Edited by), Shaun Nichols (Edited by)

9781405190190, Wiley

Paperback / softback, published 3 December 2010

400 pages
24.6 x 17.3 x 1.9 cm, 0.608 kg

"Moral Psychology: Historical and Contemporary Readings is a much-needed collection of essays on issues of moral psychology ... This collection successfully illustrates the need for scientists and philosophers to work together on such projects in effort to reach the truth via a thorough inquiry. In that regard, I would recommend this text very strongly." (Metapsychology Online Reviews, 22 November 2011)

"Finally, this book serves as a good compilation of key texts in its field, covering philosphers from almost all times and traditions." (Times Higher Education Supplement, 26 May 2011)

Moral Psychology: Historical and Contemporary Readings is the first book to bring together the most significant contemporary and historical works on the topic from both philosophy and psychology.

  • Provides a comprehensive introduction to moral psychology, which is the study of psychological mechanisms and processes underlying ethics and morality
  • Unique in bringing together contemporary texts by philosophers, psychologists and other cognitive scientists with foundational works from both philosophy and psychology
  • Approaches moral psychology from an empirically informed perspective
  • Explores a wide range of topics from passion and altruism to virtue and responsibility
  • Editorial introductions to each section explain the background of and connections between the selections

Acknowledgements viii

Introduction 1
Thomas Nadelhoffer, Eddy Nahmias, and Shaun Nichols

Part I: Reason & Passion 5

Introduction 7
Shaun Nichols

1 Selections from A Discourse of Natural Religion 11
Samuel Clarke

2 Selections from An Inquiry into the Original of Our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue 21
Francis Hutcheson

3 Selections from An Essay on the Nature and Conduct of the Passions and Affections, with Illustrations on the Moral Sense 24
Francis Hutcheson

4 Selections from Enquiries Concerning the Principles of Morals 32
David Hume

5 Introduction to Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals 37
Immanuel Kant

6 The Claim to Moral Adequacy of a Highest Stage of Moral Judgment 40
Lawrence Kohlberg

7 A Cognitive Developmental Approach to Morality: Investigating the Psychopath 48
Robert James Blair

8 Selections from The Moral Problem 64
Michael Smith

9 How Psychopaths Threaten Moral Rationalism: Is it Irrational to be Amoral? 73
Shaun Nichols

Part II: Altruism & Egoism 85

Introduction 87
Thomas Nadelhoffer and Shaun Nichols

10 Selections from Republic 93
Plato

11 Selections from Leviathan and The Elements of Law Natural and Politic 97
Thomas Hobbes

12 Selections from Human Nature and Other Sermons 103
Joseph Butler

13 Selections from An Inquiry into the Original of our Ideas of Beauty and Virtue 111
Francis Hutcheson

14 How Social an Animal: the Human Capacity for Caring 117
C. Daniel Batson

15 The Evolution of Reciprocal Altruism 124
Robert L. Trivers

16 Summary of Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior 135
Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson

17 Why Altruism Is Impossible … and Ubiquitous 148
Barry Schwartz

Part III: Virtue & Character 161

Introduction 163
Eddy Nahmias

18 Selections from Protagoras 167
Plato

19 Selections from Nicomachean Ethics 172
Aristotle

20 Behavioral Study of Obedience 179
Stanley Milgram

21 Selections from The Person and the Situation Lee Ross and Richard 187
Nisbett

22 Persons, Situations, and Virtue Ethics 197
John M. Doris

23 Situationism and Virtue Ethics on the Content of Our Character 210
Rachana Kamtekar

24 Virtue Ethics and Situationist Personality Psychology 224
Maria Merritt

Part IV: Agency & Responsibility 231

Introduction 233
Eddy Nahmias

25 Selections from Nicomachean Ethics 239
Aristotle

26 Selections from Essays on the Active Powers of Man 246
Thomas Reid

27 Selections from Beyond Good and Evil and Twilight of the Idols 251
Friedrich Nietzsche

28 Selections from Beyond Freedom and Dignity 256
B.F. Skinner

29 Apparent Mental Causation: Sources of the Experience of Will 264
Daniel M. Wegner and Thalia Wheatley

30 Agency, Authorship, and Illusion 276
Eddy Nahmias

31 Free Will in Scientific Psychology 288
Roy F. Baumeister

32 Scientific Skepticism About Free Will 295
Alfred R. Mele

Part V: Moral Intuitions 307

Introduction 309
Thomas Nadelhoffer

33 Selections from The Methods of Ethics 315
Henry Sidgwick

34 Selections from The Right and the Good 321
W.D. Ross

35 The Trolley Problem 327
Judith Jarvis Thomson

36 Selections from Living High and Letting Die: Our Illusion of Innocence 335
Peter Unger

37 The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail: A Social Intuitionist Approach to Moral Judgment 343
Jonathan Haidt

38 The Secret Joke of Kant’s Soul 359
Joshua Greene

39 Moral Intuitionism Meets Empirical Psychology 373
Walter Sinnott-Armstrong

Sources 388

Subject Areas: Society & culture: general [JF]
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